| Mode: | Basketball |
| Year: | 2020–21 |
| Prev Year: | 2019–20 |
| Next Year: | 2021–22 |
| Team: | East Carolina Pirates |
| Conference: | American Athletic Conference |
| Short Conf: | AAC |
| Record: | 8–11 |
| Conf Record: | 2–10 |
| Hc Year: | 3rd, 7th overall |
| Asst Coach2: | Antwon Jackson |
| Asst Coach3: | George Wright-Easy |
The 2020–21 East Carolina Pirates men's basketball team represents East Carolina University during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Pirates are led by third year head coach, Joe Dooley, who previously coached the Pirates from 1995 to 1999, and play their home games at Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum as seventh-year members of the American Athletic Conference. They finished the season 8-11, 2-10 in AAC Play to finish in last place. They lost in the first round of the AAC tournament to UCF.
The Pirates finished the 2019–20 season 11–20, 5–13 in AAC play to finish in 11th place. They entered as the No. 11 seed in the AAC tournament, which was ultimately cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seth LeDay | 3 | F | 6'7" | 215 | Left team (mid-season)[1] | |||
| Logan Curtis | 5 | G | 6'3" | 195 | Transferred to Delaware[2] |
On October 28, The American released the preseason Poll and other preseason awards[3]
| Coaches Poll | |||
| 1 | Houston | 99 (2) | |
| 2 | Memphis | 90 (2) | |
| 3 | SMU | 80 | |
| 4 | Cincinnati | 77 | |
| 5 | South Florida | 61 | |
| 6 | Tulsa | 50 | |
| 7 | Wichita State | 44 | |
| 8 | UCF | 37 | |
| 9 | East Carolina | 34 | |
| 10 | Temple | 18 | |
| 11 | Tulane | 15 | |
See main article: Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports.
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Pirates' schedule is subject to change, including the cancellation or postponement of individual games, the cancellation of the entire season, or games played either with minimal fans or without fans in attendance and just essential personnel.
|-!colspan=12 style=| Regular season|-|-!colspan=12 style=| AAC tournament|-
Source[8]